Angry commuters trapped overnight on a snow-hit Southeastern train have told KentOnline of their nightmare journey home.

Hundreds were held for seven gruelling hours overnight as the train they were on got stuck on ice.

They described being stuck in a freezing carriage with no food, light and overflowing toilets.

The service they were on left London Victoria for Ashford at around 8pm.

But between Kensing and Otford it came to a halt. The rails had frozen - leaving the train stranded.

Laura Cloke, who spent nine hours getting home, said: "I was on the train that got stuck outside Kemsing last night.

"It was definitely an awful night of travel. I arrived at Victoria just before 7pm finally got home at 4.20am.

"But it was just the culmination of several months worth of poor service and lack of communication from Southeastern trains.

"The problems started at 9pm when we left Otford and ground to a halt near to Kemsing.

"The power supply came and went, eventually we were left sitting in the dark with no heating.

"The female conductor did a good job of walking up and down the train to keep people informed, but the PA system between the back four and front two coaches was not working so she struggled to keep in contact with the driver.

"It worries me that there seems to be no contingency plan for these situations, walkie talkies or radios to allow the two members of staff to keep in contact would have been very useful.

"Another train was sent to rescue us and by 2.30am someone had decided that it couldn't push us to Kemsing so we all had to climb off the broken train, walk up the track and onto the new train.

"Fine if you are fit and healthy, but there were older people on the train and half a dozen children and I can't imagine the experience would have been very good for them.

"By 3.30am we were off the train at Swanley and onto a bus back to Maidstone and I finally walked through my front door at 4.20am.

"In anticipation of a poor service I had travelled with some food and drink, extra jumpers and had made sure I had been to the toilet before I got on the train.

"I was glad of the jumper for warmth and didn't dare look at the toilets as the reports for other passengers of it overflowing were not pleasant."

Simon Collins, from Platt, told KentOnline the passengers were left cold, tired and hungry.

He said: "I was on the train. Many of us were from villages right where the train broke down.

'We just don't do snow, do we?'

Read our business editor's blog on Kent's snow woes here

"We were very frustrated that once the line was shut down we were not allowed to walk along the line to Kemsing station which was in sight."

Eventually a train was brought alongside to take the stricken commuters to the nearest station.

From there they were taken by bus to their destination.

Southeastern confirmed this morning that the last passenger didn't get off the train until 3am.

Southeastern said it apologised for what happened and passengers will be contacted individually and will be offered compensation.

Were you on the train? E-mail your comments tomultimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk

It is the latest in a series of incidents that have blighted the service during this winter's big freeze.

Earlier this month, the firm's bosses issued another apology after trains were severely disrupted by snow.

A group of long-suffering passengers then held their own spoof Christmas carol concert at Charing Cross to poke fun at the train operator.

Yesterday, Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch - herself a regular Southeastern passenger - raised concerns about the service to Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond.

She said: "The Secretary of State will be aware that a delegation of Kent MPs recently met the management of Southeastern Trains to discuss the chaos and deep passenger dissatisfaction caused by the bad weather a few weeks ago.

"The latest conditions have yet again led to much disruption to services for Southeastern passengers.

"When the franchise is considered for extension in 2012 will he consider, among the other necessary factors, Southeastern's poor service delivery during adverse weather?

Mr Hammond responded: "Of course we examine the performance of train operators, and it is absolutely right that Southeastern's performance was very poor during the bout of cold weather at the end of November.

"However, in the current weather conditions, the information that I have on Southeastern's performance over the past 72 hours is far less clear-cut.

"The disruption has been no more than is to be expected in the extreme weather, and as I understand it, commuter services into London on Southeastern by and large operated normally this morning."

Today, Miss Crouch said: "Whilst it is fair to say that Southeastern has performed better than during the adverse weather conditions a couple of weeks ago, the service has still been patchy and many passengers continue to complain about the lack of communication at stations and on trains.

"I imagine that as Kent MPs we will be returning to this matter in the New Year."

On the Eurostar, massive queues have returned to the terminal in central London this morning.

First aiders were even sent to the station overnight as passengers suffered in the cold.

People are being asked to travel to St Pancras only if they already have a booking.

Eurostar says it's running a restricted service, and will offer a refund for anyone due to travel over the next three days.

Kent's roads remain dangerous today after another night of sub-zero temperatures.

An ice warning is still in place with light snow flurries expected throughout the day.

It follows a downfall overnight that dumped around 2in more snow on parts of the county.

The Met Office's severe weather warning is also still in place with forecasters saying people should "be prepared".

A Met Office spokesman said: "There will be a continuing risk of widespread ice affecting untreated surfaces as the cold weather continues."

For snow advice and more, visit our snow special report.

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